


Bad Memory

by MeGaLoTrash



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Background Alphyne (referenced), Eventual Explicit sexual content, Explicit Language, Fontcest, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slow Burn, Timeline Shenanigans, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 08:06:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12813222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeGaLoTrash/pseuds/MeGaLoTrash
Summary: Time is being manipulated, but it's happened so often that Sans has started to get used to it. He lives the same few days over and over with minor differences.  While it's fucked up, it could be so much worse. Papyrus is happy, and Sans is resigned to go through it all alone if his brother is safe. The human that fell into the underground may have some part to play in the resets, but Sans has only found misery in pursuing that line of thought. The kid may rub him up the wrong way, but Papyrus likes them, and they're harmless.Slow burn, Classic Fontcest, Angst/Hurt/Comfort- Please note the MCD tag, though there will be resets and characters may come back- this story will be going to darker places than my usual stuff (any triggers will be posted in notes/additional tags)





	1. Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No additional warnings for this part: part one/introduction.

_There was no use trying to deny it any longer, he was absolutely exhausted._

_It had been what? At least two weeks straight of nothing but the whitewash walls of the lab. There was a important meeting between his head and a pillow he’d long been putting off, and the lab’s counter tops made a very poor substitute. When he did give in to rest for a few hours when his eyes wouldn’t even stay open; the steel, bunker-style beds in the lab’s quiet rooms weren’t much better. The whole team’s work was suffering for a while but it had all been slowly grinding to a halt over the past 48 hours. However, they were so close to a breakthrough, anticipation buzzed in the air even through the fatigue. If he could just go over the base EFEs one more time-_

_The king had arrived earlier in the evening and ordered a few days of mandatory rest. Asgore had been personally overseeing the project, so he knew how hard they had all been working. Which was the reason they hadn’t been able to pull the wool over his eyes any longer. Although the king had prompted his team many times to take regular breaks, today was the first time that prompt had become non-negotiable. Just one look at the goat-monsters looming figure as he stooped to fit in some of the smaller rooms was enough to make any protests die on his tongue. Old king fluffy buns could be quite intimidating when he turned off the charm._

_For the first time in what felt like forever he made the familiar trip home. It was late, and bar the rest of the lab staff making their own way home, the underground was peaceful. As well as a much needed rest, this journey home reminded him of the reason they made the effort. A series of repetitive motions later, too tired to do anything more substantial, he found himself at his front door. The mailbox was overflowing with letters and what looked like a few greeting cards; prompting him to remember he’d had a birthday while he was lost in his work. But that could all be dealt with in the morning, for now he just wanted to sleep._

_Even if it was just a mattress on the floor, his bed was such a welcome sight. It wasn’t a palace, but it was warm and soft and it was his. He only managed to get semi-undressed before collapsing face first onto it’s springy surface, an appreciative groan filling the silence. He crawled under the covers, put his phone on emergency calls only, and allowed exhaustion to wash over him in waves._

_This was just what he needed, a good night's rest._

_...So why was he afraid to fall asleep?_

 

Sans awoke gasping for breath desperately before logic kicked in. _Bedroom. 09.23am. Back to square one. Safe._ The small skeleton had given up counting how many times he’d been through this, but those first few moments never got any easier. At least this one wasn’t as jarring as it could have been, he was 90% sure he’d actually been asleep when it happened anyway. The worst times were when he was in the middle of a conversation or task when he felt the world shift and his vision slowly fade to black. He still hadn’t managed to get the hang of letting everything go at a moment’s notice. 

He’d developed a habit of noting anything of interest in the blackouts in the notebook he carried in his pocket. Just like him, it seemed to be one of the only things that retained anything from other timelines. Sans guessed it was something to do with it being on his person when this all started, it was the only explanation that made a shred of sense. He wasn’t going to question it though, the notebook was an absolute godsend. Sans sat up in bed with a disgruntled groan, joints popping painfully as his initial panic lock up started to fade. He opened the notebook and flicked through the pages until he came up blank. This allowed him to observe just how nonsensical the majority of the first pages really were. His mind wasn’t exactly sure when he had shifted from terror to apathy, but according to his notebook it was around page 12. He grabbed a pen from the trash on his floor and quickly scribbled ‘nothing worth noting’ under the previous entry. 

His breathing was still unsteady as more residue pain reared it’s ugly head. It seemed like the mundane entries were becoming more frequent as his mind became adjusted to living in the time-loop. In a previous time he might have been more inclined to figure out why there was such a change, but he no longer saw the point in obsessing over insignificant details. Without meaning to, and knowing full well that it didn’t do any good, he started thumbing through his notebook. Sans had done this so many times expecting different results but finding nothing but frustrated disappointment. He knew it wasn’t productive, but it was one of the only things that kept him grounded. 

The first time he felt time reset back a few days Sans had been so confused and frightened. Instead of thinking things through, Sans cringed remembering how he had ran screaming into Grillby’s bar only to realise that no one else had any memory of living through this before. Even after numerous different timelines, Sans still felt a twinge of guilt from seeing everyone descend into panic over their lives being manipulated. It started off small. The bar went from not wanting to believe him to feeling his intent reaching into their Souls, the truth of his words overwhelming the fabric of the air around them.

If Sans had known he was the only one who remembered, he wouldn’t had said anything. But it didn’t stop him feeling terrible even now. It was like he could feel the hope of the entire bar drop in a single second. Even Grillby, someone Sans could always count on in a pinch, had lost control over his flames and melted the glass he was holding. Sans had ran straight home with tears in his sockets, completely consumed by grief until he felt the time shift back again. 

The next few timelines were a blur, he had gone through the motions until he was sure that he wouldn't have to see his friend’s faces breaking again. Everyone seemed fine, and thankfully Papyrus had been nowhere near Grillby’s at the time of the incident. He could barely deal with the memories of the bar patrons, who he considered good friends. The thought of seeing Papyrus like that sent chills up his spine. His brother was his world, Sans couldn’t live with himself if he ever made Papyrus upset. He’d been going out of his way for years to look after his brother, even to his own detriment… like what he was-

Sans shook his head vigorously, refocusing on the notebook. He could see the entry when had vowed to figure out what was happening, he had poured over all his old research from the labs scouring them for anything that could be of use. 

But, nothing he found made a god-damn bit of difference. While the time-space continuum was something his team had looked into extensively when exploring options for the monster race, none of the research he went over made sense of what was happening to him now. Sans prided himself on having a check on his temper most of the time, but the whole situation made rage bubble up inside him uncontrollably. He was mostly angry at himself for his own shortcomings; he knew the fabric of time _could_ be bent, but he couldn’t figure out how. Anger was easier to deal with than the creeping guilt that his past research was coming back to haunt him.

Sans hadn’t been able to deal with the idea that this was somehow his fault, so he clung to the one variable that he was sure was the catalyst. The human. Out of everything that happened on repeat, they were the ones that changed the most. They always arrived just outside of Snowdin, between 38-42 hours after time reset to be precise, but they didn’t seem to be following a script like everyone else. What they would do always varied. Even though they seemed innocent enough, in one timeline some of the townsfolk had gone missing. It could have been just a fluke, but Sans wasn’t a fool. What hurt most was he couldn’t say anything. Even now, god knows how many timelines later, Sans could pinpoint that instance as the first time he actually _wanted_ it all to reset. 

Sans suspicions about the human’s motives weren’t out of thin air; it definitely wouldn’t be the first time that someone from the human race had screwed them over. But it was a timeline when they didn’t show up that tipped him of as to how much they were involved. Sans could feel his hands tightening around the book as he looked over the notes about their confrontation. He had waited until the human showed up outside the ruins before walking straight up to them and begging them to make it stop. He was a nonsensical mess; flipping between anger and despair-trying anything he thought would make them stop. Sans knew he should have thought things through, he was allowing his emotions to take control again. But more than anything he was afraid. Afraid he was a toy for the human’s whims, like his life was just a fucking game to them. 

Weather he was right or wrong didn’t matter. Sans watched as the human, the _child_ , shrank back from him in horror- confusion clear on their face. Sans had been so mad, so frustrated with it all that his right eye started burning with magic and he felt a looming presence behind him. His innate attack was dangerous, he’d swore never to actually use it in battle unless absolutely necessary. But in that moment it had felt like his only choice. Only he made it exactly one step towards the human before time started to break around him and he was thrown back into his bed. Sans had refused to get up, weeping for hours before laughing loud enough that Papyrus had banged on his door to demand he be let in on the joke. Like so many times before, his brother had been the one to snap him back into reality. He may have been the butt of the universe's cruellest joke, but that didn’t mean anyone else had to suffer. 

Sans knew that whatever was happening was beyond his realms of understanding. No matter what he tried it to do to fix it, it wasn’t making a difference. Even the machine he’d brought from the lab all those years ago, that he’d sworn never to touch again, didn’t so much as blink in response to his tinkering. Sans was working on borrowed time he couldn’t control, alone, and without the proper tools or knowledge to change it. In a way the realisation that he couldn’t do anything was freeing. One of the worst possible things to happen to someone, had already happened. Even if Sans was stuck with it happening over and over, his mind stayed with him. 

He’d almost given up completely when the universe gave him a little slack. The more the time jumps happened, the more he was able to see the very fabric holding the loop together. Sadly seeing it didn’t mean he could control or alter what was happening, but he had managed to start to use time rips and loopholes to his advantage. It was risky, he knew that much, but he didn’t really have much left to lose. 

All he could do was monitor the child as they made their way through the underground, watching from afar their trials and tribulations. He managed to intercept them in most timelines just before they made it to the king in the ironically named ‘hall of judgement’. Sans wasn’t sure when he’d started to be able to sense exactly what the human had done, but he used the information to his advantage.

He’d seen first hand the way monsters had attacked them, just for being a human, so he couldn’t fully place the blame on them for fighting back. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t implore them to change, to see that they could be better. Surprisingly it had been Papyrus who had made him see what believing in someone could do. In the earlier timelines Sans had been insufferable, a wreak. But not once had Papyrus stopped believing in him, in fact would always go out of his way to try and lift Sans’s spirits when he was obviously hurting. Sans was unsure if it had any effect overall on the human’s mind, he still wasn’t sure how aware they actually were, but he had to try. Papyrus had shown Sans that no matter how bleak the situation was, he couldn’t just give up. His brother really was amazing...

With his small advantage, Sans was slowly getting used to the resets in time, being able to see the fabric of the universe, and having the ability to see into the human’s soul. It was nowhere near perfect, but he was adapting and he could feel parts of his carefree personality slowly returning- much to Papyrus’s displeasure. The only thing that really affected him any more was what he experienced between the timelines.

He was never sure how long he spent unconscious when he awoke; sometimes it felt like seconds and other times he would swear he was out for days. Fragments of memories, dreams, and sometimes horrific nightmares always accompanied the blackouts. Thankfully the nightmares were less frequent, but they were so bad Sans had started to block out that part of his mind. It wasn’t the horrific content that disturbed him though, but rather how unaffected he felt while experiencing them. It was only after when he was conscious and trying to put what he’d seen into context that he’d start shaking. Even though he’d blocked most of it out, one question kept replaying in his mind. Was he becoming so desensitised to what was happening that he’d lost some of himself along the way?

The front door slamming jolted him from his thoughts. _shit_. Sans hadn’t meant to get wrapped up in his thoughts, and he’d been so far gone he had to consciously relax his fingers enough to put his notebook down. Right on time Papyrus had returned from his morning patrol. Sans tried to shake off the lingering feelings of existential dread. If there was one thing worth the effort in his cluster fuck of a life, it was Papyrus. He stood up, wiped his sockets on his hoodie sleeve and headed downstairs to no doubt be lectured playfully about his shortcomings. It had become so routine, he had started to crave it. 

Besides, he had just under two days until the human child would come to mess up his life again. May as well make the most of it.


	2. How d'ya like your eggs in the morning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denying yourself and pretending everything is fine only works for so long...

Sans walked out of his room, ignoring the rip in time tempting him to jump through just so he could get downstairs faster. It was so easy to just take advantage of them all the time, but he couldn’t risk freaking Papyrus out by just materializing downstairs. Though the idea was tempting with how heavy his bones felt, he begrudgingly made his way downstairs the normal way. He tried to push away any negative feelings he’d been struggling with this morning, and ignore the fluttering in his chest at the sound of clattering pans. It was just Papyrus making breakfast as usual, it wasn’t anything he should be getting worked up about. 

“Is That You Brother?” Papyrus poked his head around the corner of the kitchen door to confirm Sans’s arrival for himself “Oh Good! You’re Up Already! Come Have Some Breakfast!”

Papyrus’s smile was genuine, they both knew the subtext of the situation over Sans getting himself out of bed for once. Even before all of the different timelines, Sans wasn’t the best at finding the motivation to drag himself up in the morning. While Sans was finding joy in the simplicity of their life in Snowdin, he tended to lose the point of it all when he had to face yet another mundane day. Papyrus accepted that he struggled, even if he didn’t understand fully, and he always made the effort to make sure Sans was up at a reasonable hour. Sans walked into the kitchen, popped himself up onto a stool, and watched as Papyrus started pouring the oatmeal mixture into the pan. _great._ Sans had long grown tired of this particular breakfast; but it did it’s job and there was no way he was going to be ungrateful about his brother making the effort.

Papyrus started chattering about what he’d seen on the morning patrol, something Sans had heard over and over but it never failed to feel comforting. For the most part he could zone out and only really pick up on any differences, but he tried to make sure it didn’t seem like he was ignoring his brother. Far from it in fact, Sans might not have been listening attentively but his eyes were fixed on watching Papyrus cook. The stark contrast from Papyrus’s ‘battle-body’ and the apron he wore to protect it while making food always made Sans smile. Even though it had only really been a week or so since they made the costume, it seemed like Papyrus had been wearing the same thing for years. Sans had tried many times to tell Papyrus he didn’t need to keep wearing it but his younger brother always brushed him off. Papyrus insisted it made him look like a member of the guard, or at least a ‘Royal Guard In Training!’… even though it didn’t even remotely resemble their armour. There was always a sparkle in Papyrus’s eye when he told other people about how they made the costume together. It was hard for Sans to remember Papyrus was just excited about joining the guard, it wasn’t that the younger skeleton treasured it just because Sans had a hand in making it...

But Papyrus had made it pretty clear to everyone he told, multiple times, that it was _his_ battle body. Sans was just projecting his own ideas and looking for meaning when there wasn’t any. A huge drawback of living the same day multiple times is that mundane interactions became points of interest, and Sans was already the type to over think everything. Papyrus wasn’t wearing it for him; he just wanted to draw attention so he could land his dream job. Nothing more. Still, it was hard to take him seriously now with the frilly apron wrapped around on top of the faux armour. _where’d he even get something so...mumsy?_ Sans stifled a snigger into his hand, Papyrus would kill him if he ever made that comparison out loud, and tried to tune into his brother’s rambling.

“- And Then I Was Planning On Dragging Your Lazy Bones Out Of Bed, But You’ve Done That Job For Me!”

Papyrus was stirring the mixture vigorously over the stove as he spoke, and Sans could tell even without his brother facing him that his words had no malice behind them. The light-hearted teasing between them was one of the reasons he managed to get out of bed today. Everyone he interacted tended to feel a little stale after more timelines than Sans could count, but Papyrus was one of the most responsive to his changing mindset. Papyrus didn’t seem to follow a script like everyone else, who often felt like they were just repeating the same words and actions. The younger skeleton was so observant to anything Sans would do, and his responses felt organic. He listened, he _cared_. The temptation now to tease him playfully and fall into the role of the annoying big brother was far too good to pass up on.

“heh, well that's my job quota done for the day-” Sans winked when Papyrus turned to face where he was sat, his permanent grin growing even wider as he continued to tease “-i may as well put myself back into bed to save you the job later”

“Sans!That’s Not What I Meant!” Papyrus huffed dramatically, crossing his arms over his chest.

The frilly white material of the apron ended up bunched up in Papyrus’s arms; the sight being nothing short of ~~adora~~ \- comical. Sans couldn’t help laughing, deciding to double his efforts to really wind Papyrus up. 

“i’m just joking pap, don’t let it get _under your skin._ ”

“We Don't’ Even-” Papyrus paused his correction upon hearing Sans laughing “SANS! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES!”

That did it. The quiet chuckle Sans had been stifling turned into full blown laughter when Papyrus started stamping his foot like a baby bones throwing a tantrum. It was too much- even through his acting up Papyrus couldn’t help his own smile forming and soon his shoulders were shaking from holding back his own giggles. The stubbornness of the younger skeleton was honestly one of the reasons he was so irresistibly endearing-

Sans wiped away a few drops of magic that had spilled from his sockets “c’mon pap you’re laughing.”

“I AM AND I HATE IT” Papyrus turned dramatically back to face the stove. His tone was still loud but it had lost all of its abrasiveness and Sans suspected the other skeleton had probably turned around to hide his smile. Sans slipped off his stool and came up behind him, not willing to let the teasing go just yet. He felt Papyrus tense, his brother was well aware of his tactic to wait until the atmosphere dropped just to tack on another joke. Half of the fun was seeing the other skeleton’s internal battle between his lack of patience to hear what Sans was going to say, and the knowledge that it was just going to annoy him more. Papyrus still wore a smile even though he was trying to hide it, and it was easy to tell he was finding it hard to focus on cooking with the way the pan was boiling. Sans thought he should probably put him out of his misery before they had another ‘flammable incident’ 

“... it can’t be all that bad if you found it a little-”” Sans stuck his arm out between Papyrus and the stove “ _humerus._ ”

Papyrus didn’t even reply properly, just through his arms up and screamed in mock frustration. Satisfied, Sans went back to his seat still tittering to himself. To anyone else looking in their relationship may have seemed odd, but when your brother was the only family you had it was no wonder they were close. Very close. People who didn’t know them would sometimes think they were a couple with the amount of back and forth teasing they did to each other. It was something they were used to laughing off by now, so much so that they even had a few in-jokes between them about it. Sans could see why people made the mistake. But the idea was, of course, absolutely ridiculous.

Papyrus pouring the oatmeal into two bowls gave Sans something else to focus on. While the taste left something to be desired, a hot meal was just what he needed after such a shaky start. Papyrus didn’t bring the bowls over straight away, muttering to himself as he bent over the counter. It was obvious Papyrus was up to something with the way that he was hunched over in a way that hid what he was doing. Sans thought about asking but he decided that whatever it was would be much better if Papyrus was able to ‘surprise’ him. The way Papyrus’s face lit up when he was trying to impress someone was a sight Sans didn’t want to miss. 

Almost lost to his thoughts again, Sans was startled when a bowl was slammed down in front of him and he finally got to see what his brother had been hiding. Sans should have known from the box that this was the oatmeal with the dinosaur eggs, but he didn’t expect Papyrus to have arranged them into the shape of a smile. A distant memory told Sans he’d done this before, but to him it felt so long ago that it hardly seemed to matter. And then there was Papyrus’s face. Just like Sans expected, there was a barely contained smile across his features, and his whole body was shaking from excitement. But their proximity was what made his soul start to flutter. 

“...pap” Sans tried to start a sentence but his mind was drawing a blank. How was it that even after multiple timelines Papyrus still managed to floor him with how fucking sweet he was?

“No Need To Hide Your Joy Sans! This Is A Hearty Breakfast Prepared By Master Chef Papyrus!” Papyrus made a grand gesture towards the two bowls before taking a seat next to him, elbowing him softly in the ribs “ _Bone_ Appetite!” 

Sans could only stare, flabbergasted, as Papyrus started to eat his breakfast. He knew Papyrus had the ability to crack some sweet jokes, but his timing and set up, waiting until Sans was speechless was insanely sneaky. Sans didn’t even have a comeback, he could only laugh and shake his head before tucking into his own bowl. The smile never left his face however as they sat in a comfortable silence, the only sound being the soft clank of their respective spoons. Sans just couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have someone like Papyrus in his life. He was so perfect, so funny, so cool and Sans just wanted to grab him tight and show him just how much he wanted to taste-

_yikes._

Sans tried not to let his internal monologue show at all but he could feel himself clamming up with Papyrus sat so close. It had been a while since he’d let himself get that carried away with his hidden thoughts, the exhaustion from this morning must be wearing him down. Sans knew thinking about Papyrus like that was wrong. He’d known for years just how wrong; even before all this bullshit started he’d beat himself up over thinking of his younger brother this way. Sans wasn’t exactly sure when his fixation originated- he could barely remember a time when he didn’t feel head over heals in love with Papyrus. But it must have started somewhere, and he put it down his own fucked up perversions rather than something his brother had done. However their closeness and teasing relationship did little to stop his desires for more developing at an alarming rate. 

Speaking of closeness, just having Papyrus sitting next to him and lightly brushing up against his side was driving Sans crazy. It always felt like he was a million times more sensitive when Papyrus was around, and today was no exception. Every little movement that made them touch felt like it was leaving a trail of hot fire on his bones. Now Sans was actively thinking about it made the feeling more intense until it felt like he could barely breathe. But it wasn’t like he could pull away or make a sound; Papyrus would notice in seconds and there was no way Sans was going to make his brother feel like he wasn’t wanted. Sans had slipped up in the past by trying to hold his younger brother at arm’s length for his own sanity, but it had both confused and upset Papyrus so much he swore he wouldn’t even think about doing that again.

Sans was resigned to the sweet torture that was his relationship with Papyrus, something he thoroughly deserved for being such a sick fuck. 

But right now he needed to focus, Papyrus was so close he’d be able to sense something was wrong if he wasn’t careful. Luckily years of denying himself had taught Sans a few techniques in how to defuse a situation. He began humming in appreciation while eating, knowing Papyrus enjoyed it when people appreciated his cooking. It may have seemed like a weak idea but it allowed him an outlet for his pent up noises. 

“It’s Really Good Isn’t It Sans?” Papyrus took the bait, giggling happily in between mouthfuls “Who Knew Dinosaurs Were So Tasty!” 

Sans nodded with a mouthful of food, not having the heart to tell his brother they weren’t real dinosaur eggs. He was more than happy to bask in the relief of not getting caught. Sans had almost relaxed completely until Papyrus leant into him a little further, pressing their sides together almost completely. It seemed his noises might have unconsciously drawn Papyrus to him and Sans was having a hard time focusing on the repetitive motions of feeding himself when all he wanted to do was lean into the soft touches and beg for more. 

Luckily for him, Papyrus finished way before he did and then immediately went to do the dishes. Sans cursed under his breathe when Papyrus was out of hearing range. He had been so close to snapping that time, what the fuck was he thinking? Sans knew that he was getting careless- but it was hard to judge consequences when everything was just going to get erased. What he wouldn’t give just to see his brother respond to his touch, to be given a chance to see those strong features contorted in pleasure was all Sans craved. As he continued eating he tried not to focus on how alive his body felt with magic at that thought, if he let it go on any further it wouldn’t be long before his pelvis became heavy and his baggy shorts tight. 

Rather than give him something else to focus on, the fact that time was repeating just made his hidden attraction grow. Papyrus was his anchor, the one person who truly cared about his well-being, and the reason he was trying to find away out of it all. He knew thinking about his relationship to Papyrus like that was fucking creepy, but there was no point in denying it to himself any more. Not when the only real company he had through the different timelines was his own mind. He knew it was putting too much onto Papyrus, It was a huge burden to bear another person’s existence on your shoulders, even if he didn’t know it. But he knew pushing Papyrus away would only hurt them both, and it wasn’t like Sans would ever act on his feelings. He was a big brother, first and foremost. No amount of unreciprocated pining for Papyrus would ever change that. 

“What Do You Want To Do Today Brother, It’s Your Day Off Isn’t It?” Papyrus asked while removing his bowl. 

Sans hadn’t even realised he’d finished, he’d been so lost to his thoughts. And now Papyrus was looking at him expectantly, not saying what he wanted, but it didn’t take a scientist to figure out what his fidgety behaviour meant. _shit. shit. shit._. Usually Sans would make up some excuse, tell Papyrus he wanted to sleep all day or worse- lie and say he got the day wrong and go to work anyway. But today he felt more vulnerable to his brother’s hopeful expression than usual. 

“i dunno paps, any chance you’ve got an opening in your busy schedule to hang out with an old bag of bones?” 

Sans watched as Papyrus’s face lit up with joy before he sprang to his feet and struck his best ‘Future Royal Guard’ Pose. Sans felt a twinge of guilt as he watched Papyrus getting way too into it just for him,but he ignored that feeling as best he could. Sans reassured himself he was doing this for Papyrus’s benefit, _not_ just for his own selfish reasons. 

“Of Course!” Papyrus Beamed, practically picking Sans up off his seat and drawing him into a crushing hug “The Great Papyrus Can Always Make Time For His Most Favourite Brother!” 

“i’m your only brother” Sans wheezed, the hug thankfully winding him enough to stop the magic in his bones from settling anywhere embarrassing. 

“That’s Not Important! You Are Still My Absolute Favourite! Even If You Have The Worst Sense Of Humour, You Are Still Pretty Great!” Papyrus didn’t miss a beat, squeezing him harder. 

It seemed his brother was intent on ignoring all logic just to try and make the Sans feel good. He didn’t deserve it at all, but he didn’t have the willpower to resist the insistent praise any longer. Not with Papyrus holding him this close and practically carrying him into the living room. Sans felt his face burning a bright blue as Papyrus started walking towards the living room. He was still wearing that god-damn apron, and the soft material rubbing against Sans was doing nothing to help his predicament. 

“ok paps i get it” Sans started to wriggle in his grasp, realising Papyrus wasn’t going to let him go without a distraction “you’re pretty cool too bro” 

Sans felt a smile creep on his face as he was abruptly dropped against the nearby table. He was about to make a snide comment about being discarded like the trash he was but then he saw his brother’s face. Papyrus had flushed at the compliment and even though he was trying to hide it under his usual bravado, it was obvious how much it meant to him. 

“Wowie! I-I Mean Yes! The Great Papyrus Is Very Cool! The Coolest In Fact!” 

_shit he hadn’t meant to-_. Sans knew how much his brother responded to praise, but he usually held back for his own selfish reasons. It was very hard to resist Papyrus when he looked like this; the mix of pure wonder and his attempts to mask his embarrassment over the complement made Sans’s knees weak. He quickly darted his eyes around for something to diffuse the situation, anything at all that would make this any less awkward. 

“yeah you could even say-” Sans picked up pet and held it out to his brother “-you rock”

Papyrus groaned loudly, hiding his face in his hands over being tricked again “SANS! I Was Just Going To Suggest- But You Can Forget It!”

It stung a little to know he was the cause of wiping that look of wonder off his brother’s face, but it was a necessity if Sans was going to be able to make it through the rest of the day. He would have gladly spent it telling Papyrus every little detail he loved about him just to see that face again. But that wasn’t how the universe worked. Papyrus would be flustered sure, then confused, then absolutely disgusted once he realised Sans’s true nature. It wasn’t the best way to deal with everything, but Sans had to keep playing the part of the obnoxious lazy brother for both of their sakes. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t spend the day together, Sans just had to hope he was able to salvage the situation.

“i’m sorry paps, you’re my favourite brother- no joke” Sans saw his brother peek through his hands at that and he had to swallow the urge to comment on how cute he looked “come on best bro, what do you want to do?”

After much pushing and persuading and resisting the urge to tell any more jokes, Papyrus finally gave in and said he had taped the MTT special a few nights earlier and he wanted to watch it. Sans pretended like it was a great idea, even though he’d seen the special more times than he could count over timelines. But his own boredom didn’t matter, Papyrus hadn’t seen it and Sans knew he was going to enjoy it. He would just have to try and look attentive even if the familiarity of seeing this a dozen time threatened to lull him to sleep. 

Morning faded into afternoon and right on cue the snow storm started. Sans had gotten so used to it, he’d usually be watching from grillby’s or making sure he was home from his post before it hit. But the times he got to see the strange weather phenomenon with Papyrus were always his favourite, and today was no different. The younger skeleton’s eyes lit up from excitement as he jumped around the living room proclaiming the rest of the day to officially be a ‘snow day. When he eventually calmed down enough to sit still Papyrus went to retrieve the blankets he had stashed under the couch for just such an occasion. 

Seeing the blankets however gave Sans a lot of mixed feelings. It had been too many timelines since he’d allowed this scenario to play out… and for good reason. The last time it had happened, Papyrus had fallen asleep pressed into his side. His breath was hot against Sans’s bones, and the soft whimpers quickly wore down his restraint. Sans had known it was nothing more than an innocent mistake on his brother’s part; but having him so close and making such incredible sounds had been too much for the older skeleton. His magic was hot, heavy and straining at his shorts so badly that Sans had given in and lightly rubbed his cock through the thin material. Sans wasn’t a stranger to his left hand but just having Papyrus close made it so easy to imagine his brother was touching him instead. He’d been so lost in his fantasies and the idea that getting caught didn’t even matter. Papyrus wouldn’t remember either way, and it had been so _so_ hard to deny himself all these years. 

But then Papyrus had stirred in his sleep and the reality of what he was doing hit him hard. The guilt had made him stop immediately and practically will his magic away by force as Papyrus continued to sleep against him. Sans had felt awful, absolutely terrible and bar a couple of _interesting_ dreams he had refused to do anything sexual since. But as Papyrus extended the blanket to him now, he couldn’t find the courage to refuse even if he was treading a dangerous line. Sans opened the blanket with shaky arms: if he was going to do this, he would just have to try keep some distance. If not then he might… _no!_ If Papyrus fell asleep he’d either have to remove himself carefully, or hope the memory of guilt was enough of a deterrent to stop him craving anything else. 

Blankets in position, the rest of the day passed by without much worth noting. Papyrus had made some popcorn that they both picked at throughout the evening despite not really eating anything since breakfast. Papyrus assured him that while it wasn’t something you did regularly in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it was rude not to eat snacks and relax on a snow day. Sans had a sneaky feeling this was a made up rule, just like the rule about Papyrus having the best choice in snow day entertainment. This had resulted in a mock fight for the remote- with Papyrus using his longer limbs unfairly to his advantage. Sans had tried to pry the remote away with magic but that had earned him a couch cushion to the face and screams of ‘Cheater!

They had both become so swept up in the fight it was only when he realised that he was practically pinning Papyrus under him did it get a little weird. The glow of the television set softly lit up his brother’s face, and from this angle Sans thought he’d never seen him look so beautiful. Thankfully he caught himself before doing anything stupid, letting Papyrus flip their positions and retrieve the remote before crawling off him.

“Bested Again By The Great Papyrus! Nyeh Heh Heh!” Papyrus giggled happily in victory as he laid back against the couch. 

It had been a close call, far too close. He could still feel his soul hammering in his chest, but Sans had managed to escape by the skin of his teeth. Still as Papyrus flicked through the channels for what he wanted to watch it was hard not to replay the image of his baby brother pinned under him in his mind. His sick, twisted and depraved mind. What would Papyrus have done if he had just leant down and closed the gap between them? A shiver went up his spine just thinking about it and Sans had to remind himself, again, that this line of thought would only get him into trouble he couldn’t deal with. 

The rest of the evening would have been so much much easier to get through if Papyrus didn’t insist on lounging with his legs swung over Sans’s lap. He said it was it was only for warmth, Sans knew it was to keep him pinned and without access to the remote, but it was driving him crazy. Sans had to ball his hands into fists to stop himself from reaching out to stroke along his brother’s long limbs. He tried to focus on the film his brother had picked, but he had seen it too many times to focus on it properly.

It started getting late and Sans could feel his defences dropping as fast as his eye sockets. He had started to let his hand relax and he was dangerously close to letting it wander without him having the willpower to stop it. If the soft sighs coming from his brother’s direction were anything to go by, he was already falling asleep and wouldn’t even stir from the touch. Sans felt himself being lulled into a sense of comfort as he listened to Papyrus’s breathing. He didn’t have to worry as much about embarrassing himself now, the amount of effort it took to stop his magic taking solid form meant he was far too tired to even think of becoming aroused. 

The position Sans was in on the couch wasn’t the most comfortable, and he was going to regret it in the morning, but it was so hard to get up the motivation to move. When he heard Papyrus had started snoring he made the conscious effort not to even try. With his brother so close and feeling safe enough to fall asleep it was hard not to cling to this moment of pure happiness. Sans knew Papyrus wouldn’t be out for long, his brother wasn’t a heavy sleeper, and that he’d probably wake up alone in his own bed. But for now Sans was content to let his eyes sockets slip shut as the storm continued to rage outside.


	3. A little early

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To avoid spoilers, triggering tags can be found in the end notes. Some of the meta tags are in this chapter so please check if this is something that may upset you.

When he heard the notification sound going off on his phone, Sans had rolled over in bed to find out who the hell would be texting him so early. When he realised it was an alarm from the camera just outside the ruins though, he had just groaned in frustration at having to get up so soon. He had figured out how to tap into Alphy’s cameras in snowdin forest a while ago; for someone who prided themselves in being good with technology her security systems were piss easy to bypass. Initially it had only been to keep an eye on his brother, something that Sans had to stop himself from being a creep over, but since he’d been stuck in the timeloop it was a handy tool that announced the kid’s arrival. Sans was so used to being woken up by the notification, he didn’t even realise something was wrong until he scanned the timestamp. It was 6am, not completely out of the ordinary, but then he clocked the date. It was a day off. Sans thought it must have been an error with the camera tap he’d done on the camera but then he checked the date on his phone too-

_the human was way too early_

Sans bolted upright in bed, scrambling to put on any clothing he could find. This was so wrong- how was it even possible?! Sans tried to think logically, for all he knew something else could have triggered the alarm system. But not even logic would stop the sinking feeling he had in his soul if it really was them. Memories of the day before flashed up in his mind; spending a wonderful day with Papyrus, messing around on the couch and even feeling _safe_. He’d become too complacent, he’d let himself be lulled into a false sense of security with the rules he’d figured out. Now something out of the ordinary was happening and he wasn’t prepared for the fallout. As soon as Sans finished dressing he was bolting out the door, hoping he managed to beat his brother’s morning patrol. He knew Papyrus could look after himself, but something about this whole situation just didn’t feel right.

Luckily Sans had only ran a couple of feet outside of his house when a time rip presented itself. He had gotten so used to seeing that faint glimmer in the air that he was passing through it almost as soon as it appeared. Through practice Sans had figured out he could appear almost anywhere he wanted if he pictured the place in his mind. But his thoughts were so scrambled that he only managed to arrive in the general area: materialising just off the track in the thick of Snowdin forest. Sans was about to try to get his bearings when he saw movement on the path ahead. He stayed as still as possible, leaning as far forward on his feet as he could to try and engage all of his senses.

A cold chill travelled down his spine as he recognised the striped shirt...but not the thing wearing it. 

It resembled the human sure, but even from this distance Sans could tell something was wrong. The way they walked just didn’t seem natural- their clothes looked torn and dusty- like they’d been through the more deserted parts of the ruins. _or worse_. Sans didn’t want to, but his mind made the connection between what it was covered with and to the dust he’d found around Snowdin in a previous timeline. And there was _so_ much of it. It felt like the cold of Snowdin forest was taking hold of his very core as he watched them slowly but steadily shamble along the path. He needed to do something, he couldn’t just sit by and watch even if the thought of going closer terrified him.

Sans needed to find out for sure what was going on before they got any closer to Snowdin. He walked forward on shaky legs, sticking close to the shadows of the forest as he watched the imposter closely. The more things he noticed, the more he was sure something was off. This couldn’t all be coincidence; the early arrival, the dust, the weird way it was holding itself. Something had gone wrong in this timeline, but he just wasn’t sure what. Sans tried not to panic about what would happen if this _thing_ came into contact with anyone else, his friends or even Pa-

He shuddered and forced himself not to follow that train of thought. He couldn’t dwell on the ‘what ifs’ of this situation, he need to intercept them before they got any further. But he couldn’t just run up to them and give away the fact he knew something was wrong. He’d seen in the past the bad effect that had, and something told him that this thing wouldn’t react kindly to being confronted head on. No, Sans needed to act like he always did. Like this was their first meeting and nothing was wrong. He needed to ignore the dust and blank expression, try and act normally and see if there was anything of the human still in there. If Sans acted now maybe he could save the rest of the town, maybe they’d snap out of it, maybe…

Sans came up behind the ~~thi-~~ the human and pulled out his usual schtick with the whoopee cushion. He went over the lines in his head just like always and delivered the punch with an almost convincing delivery. But what he got back was...nothing. The human just stared right through him, a vacant and cold look on their face. 

“that’s, uh. your cue to laugh” A bead of sweat travel down the back of his skull despite his efforts to try and keep his cool “or, uh, to emote at all…?”

Sans knew he was fumbling with his words already, but stars above they were really freaking him out. They showed no signs of knowing, or even caring, that he was stumbling though. They just stood there, staring, the only sign of life being their slightly ragged breaths. This close Sans could see just how off they really were, even the air around them felt like it carried a strange aura. And the dust. It looked freshly fallen as if the monster it had come from had just been- 

_it couldn’t be…_

Sans felt his eye lights almost disappear as he realised whose dust was likely all over the human… _she always did know how to pick them_. He laughed nervously, trying to keep them talking while he figured what to do. He was hoping beyond all hope that it wasn’t true, but a part of him knew that Tori- the lady behind the door would have tried everything they could to stop this creature. Sans just had to stall them a little longer before-

A cheery sing song from further down the path made him realise Papyrus was already close. There was no way of stopping him, and as soon as he saw Snowdin’s new arrival he might not even be able to tell something was wrong. He would try and befriend them and show off his traps and- _shit!_ Sans had spent too long rambling and he was out of time. 

“i have an idea. go through this gate thingy.” he tried to sound sure of himself, hoping that he could at least get them to ‘hide’ like usual. Papyrus didn’t always spot the human’s hiding place, and even if he did he pretended not to notice, this was his safest bet right now. 

“yeah, go right through.” he prompted when the thing didn’t move “my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”

Sans started to move towards it and finally they started to move in the opposite direction. This was good; if what he was saying was getting through to them then there had to still be something in there he could reason with. Sans kept pace behind them as they walked towards his station the feeling of dread only growing when they stopped dead before he’d even said a word. Like they had done this before. Their behaviour went against everything he knew, but Papyrus was literally feet away and he needed to hide them fast. He tried to get them to get behind the lamp like always, but then the temperature around them dropped even lower-

-and the _thing_ started twitching.

The atmosphere around them was thick and Sans could hear the soft rattling of his bones no matter how much he tried to keep calm. Not only was this completely new, they’re whole body just looked off. Things didn’t quite hang in the way that fleshy creatures held themselves and the longer Sans stared the more it seemed like he was seeing double. Like the thing was both there and….not? If he thought he was afraid before, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. 

“uh, ok, i guess you don’t have to.” he said in what he hoped passed as a his usual laid back tone. 

Sans felt like such a fool for trying to pretended everything was fine. He wanted to scream at his brother to run and hide- but he was terrified the thing would lash out at the nearest target if he said anything. When Papyrus was around.... It wasn’t worth the risk. 

“SANS!!” Papyrus beamed with a wide smile as he approached, surveying the scene quickly and without a second glance at the thing that refused to budge “Have You Found A Human Yet?”

Sans winced, he knew Papyrus could see the thing next to him but he couldn’t understand why he refused to acknowledge them. Even in the worse timelines, Papyrus would at least shoot him a knowing wink.  
He couldn’t think of what to do but state the obvious “yeah” 

“Really?!!? Wowie!”Papyrus’s voice was steady but Sans noticed the quick flick of his brother’s eyes to the space in front of him “Guess that’s Settled!!”

And just as quickly as he appeared Papyrus was gone, and thankfully the thing didn’t try to follow. Sans breathed a heavy sigh of relief; the exchange was odd but it could have been so much worse. He didn’t know why he ever doubted his brother wouldn’t be able to sense something was wrong, Papyrus was always so good at picking up on other people’s emotions. He wasn’t the best at dealing with them though, even though he loved a competitive battle he hated actual conflict. Which explained why he had exited so smoothly, he was just as confused as Sans. Papyrus was trying to act like everything was normal. Sans just had to hope he could catch up to his brother without the thing noticing that they were acting strange around it.

Just like that the imposter snapped back into motion, whatever trance it was under broken. Sans watched as it shuffled around the area almost like it was looking for something. A faint glint out of the corner of his eye socket reminded Sans of the cameras in the area. He hoped Alphys had been paying attention when they had come out of the ruins, or at least was noticing the caked dust on the things clothing as she watched them now. He wondered for a second whether the scientist had ever thought about putting cameras up in the ruins- that way he could know for sure what happened. 

Sans could feel his soul sinking further, he needed to know what happened in the ruins so he could get a clearer picture on what he was dealing with. But time wasn’t on his side. He wished he could get a good look at the thing when it wasn’t watching so he could see what had happened to it’s soul. But every time he even thought about doing that, it would turn to face him slightly and stare at him. As if it knew. Sans saw it was slowly moving forward to carry on down the path and he decided now was his chance to go back.

He kept them talking as he formulated a plan; he would go back, try and find out anything he could about the ruins and just hope the time rip was still active. If not well… Sans smiled slightly at the thought of him running around snowdin forest in the fluffy slippers he’d thrown on. Even if the situation was as dire as he thought, Papyrus would be proud he was trying physical exercise for once. Thinking of his brother Sans had an idea; it was just him and the thing now, so even if it lashed out he wasn’t putting anyone else in danger. 

“well, i’ll be straightforward with you. my brother'd really like to see a human..." Sans started, preparing himself for confrontation as he let his tone turn sharp “so, y’know, it’d really help me out…”

He paused, the thing was looking at him directly now rather than just in his direction. He’d caught it’s full attention, as if it didn’t expect him to be so direct. Sans felt a small amount of hope rise up inside him, he could let it know he was onto it’s facade. 

“if you kept pretending to be one”

He left towards the ruins without a glance back in their direction. He knew it was stupid to hope that a thinly-veiled threat was going to change this creature's course of action, but if nothing else it was going to buy him a small amount of time. As far as he could tell it wasn’t following him, and as soon as the door to the ruins was in sight Sans picked up his pace. He wasn’t sure if it was reassuring or not, but he could see multiple rips in time as he got closer. Sans had to push aside all of his theories about the human- or that thing- being the root cause of the multiple timelines. He knew he was right, but he needed to focus on the now as he started banging on the door as loud as he could.

Silence. 

Sans started to panic as his worst fears were realised. He knew there could have been many reasons why she didn’t answer, but when he saw that the door wasn’t even sealed properly he felt his soul sink completely. He pushed the door open a fraction to confirm what he knew would behind it. Dust. There was no way to confirm it, there was no time to go looking for her. He was sure his friend was dead, she had tried to stop the abomination and she had lost her life in the process. Sans sank to his knees and let out long wail of despair. The knowledge that this could all reset at any moment wasn’t at all comforting. Grief wasn’t just something he could brush away with logic, no matter how much he needed to right now. 

Sans eventually had to come to his senses as panic overtook the loss in his mind. His friend may be dead, but if that was true and he sat there and did nothing then more lives could be lost. Standing to his feet and wiping the tears from his skull Sans threw himself towards the nearest rip in time and pictured his brother in his mind. He was met with darkness, usually the passage was near instant but something made him linger in between the two points. Was he not clear enough? Was his mind too consumed by grief to even travel correctly? Or had he finally fallen victim to the dangers of the unknown. Sans could feel fresh tears forming in his sockets as his mind screamed at him to make it through, he couldn’t just leave everyone now! 

And just like that he was back in reality, unceremoniously thrown onto the floor at his brother’s feet. 

“Sans! I Don’t Know How You Did It But This Is By Far The Laziest Way You’ve Ever Snuck Up On Me!” 

Just hearing Papyrus’s voice was enough to make Sans let out a few sobs of relief, thankful that his face was in the snow and not facing his brother. He was far too unstable right now, it was causing his usual advantages to become unpredictable. If he didn’t calm down and try and think clearly who knows what would happen if he went through a rip again.

“heh, you know me bro- always looking for new ways to outdo myself” Sans mumbled into the snow as Papyrus went to pick him up off the ground. 

He started to formulate a plan while his brother dusted him off. Sans had to get Pap on his side so they could stall the creature, but he didn’t have time to explain everything now. It was selfish but he couldn’t deal with Papyrus freaking out on top of everything else. With the loss he’d already experienced, seeing Papyrus’s face break would render him useless. He just had to play it cool and pretend everything was fine. 

“Well, In That Case I’m Proud Of You For Making The Effort To Always Better Yourself- I Think…” Papyrus’s smile wavered slightly before he continued “But Not Is Not The Time For Laziness, We Have To Make Preparations For The- Um, What Exactly Were You Boondoggling With Earlier Sans?”

_fuck_. He knew Papyrus was suspicious from his behaviour earlier, but he had no idea his brother would have been so direct about it. He had been banking on his brother’s naivety, and it was already blowing up in his face. 

“y-you mean the human?” Sans offered, hoping that Papyrus would take the bait. 

“Sans! You Know That I Am An Expert On All Things Human! I Have Read All Of The History Books So I Can Be Prepared To Capture One!” Papyrus said before scratching the bottom of his jaw, trying to look like he was coming to some grand revelation.

What usually would have endeared Sans was making him want to scream; they didn’t have the time for this, but if he didn’t want Papyrus to panic he couldn’t say anything. It was torture. 

“...And I Have Concluded That Was Not A Human”

“i know bro it’s just-” _think sans, how can you get him to play along?_ “-they um- want to be a human, it's trying to be one any ways. so do you think you can, ya know, pretend?”

It was weak, but if he could appeal to Papyrus’s empathetic nature then maybe they could pull this off. Papyrus’s expression darkened as he processed what he had said and Sans was sure that his brother was going to laugh off his ridiculous suggestion immediately. But almost as soon as it appeared the look of doubt was gone and his usual beaming expression was back.

“Oh You Should Have Said So!”Papyrus took a step forward before striking the valiant pose he used when trying to impress the human “The Great Papyrus, Will Do My Very Best And Go Along With This ‘Game’. All They Need Is Some Encouragement To Live Their Dreams!”

With Papyrus on board Sans felt a little better. If Papyrus’s antics could keep them occupied, Sans would have time to formulate a better plan. He wanted to get to Snowdin and evacuate the town, sending them to waterfall until the had the help of the royal guard on their side. Sans would have tried to locate Undyne right now but he’d never travelled that far and with what happened earlier he couldn’t risk trying something new. Plus he couldn’t leave his brother alone for long with that thing, It wasn’t safe. 

As the morning went on, he and Papyrus ran into the thing a few more times. It wasn’t exactly aggressive when they were close, but even through Papyrus’s best efforts he couldn’t get them to play along. They just kept up a slow and steady pace forward no matter what stops Papyrus pulled out without batting an eye. It was deeply disturbing, but to his credit Papyrus tried everything to engage them. Even if the patterns of dust seemed to change each time they saw it...

When Papyrus was spending time setting up some of his puzzles, Sans tried to spread the word as fast as he could. He didn’t mince his words, he was direct in telling everyone that they needed to get out of Snowdin forest as fast as possible. He didn’t spend time on details- the memory of when he crushed everyone in the first reset was still laying heavy on his mind- but he made sure to give intent to his words. Any doubts anyone had weren’t voiced when they saw the look on his face. Word spread fast and by the time Sans nipped towards the town most of the streets were deserted. The light still shone out of Grillby’s bar, and he really wanted to check what the hold up was but he noticed the time rip next to him starting to fade. He needed to jump back through and catch up with Papyrus, he had to trust that Grillby wouldn’t hang around much longer. 

Sans had managed to clear a lot of the forest when he ran into a big problem. Papyrus was starting to suspect there was something he wasn’t telling him when they both ran into Chilldrake. The usually laid back monster looked more stressed out than Sans had ever seen him; the worry on his face clear even with the sunglasses obscuring most of his face. The drake was looking for his brother, he had checked all the usual places he hung out since running away from home but couldn’t find any trace of him. Sans wanted to tell him to head to waterfall like everyone else but he knew it would be pointless. It would be like asking him to leave Papyrus behind. All he could do was try and reassure him, and hope that Snowy was still around to find. 

“we’ll keep an eye out, i’m sure he’s-” a piercing howl cut through the air, stopping Sans mid sentence as he watched Chilldrake run in the direction of the noise. 

He knew it was pointless, the noise was canine in nature. The despair in the cry cut straight to his soul and Sans understood it had to be one of the dogi losing their partner. He knew they were close, if he could get to them in time then maybe he could save- 

Papyrus. 

With all the commotion Sans had only just realised his brother was completely frozen beside him, the only thing moving were the tears running down his face. He’d felt the intent behind the howl aswell and it was tearing him apart. 

“...pap” Sans watched as his voice snapped Papyrus out of his trance, the look of distress being even clearer as he turned to face him “i’m gonna find out what that was. if you see the human just… stall them- i’ll be back soon”

“Sans I… I Don’t Think It’s-”

“you gotta trust me bro, we need to act like everything's fine or it could…” he trailed off, not daring to say what came next. 

He didn’t need to, Papyrus’s expression morphed into one of understanding as he nodded slowly. Sans felt like his soul was splintering when he realised that there was also disappointment in his brother’s eyes. He knew he should have been honest with him from the start, but he didn’t have the time to correct his mistakes now. 

“I Trust You Sans” Papyrus wiped his tears before his face morphed back to his usual smile “I’ll Do Everything I Can To Help!”

Sans wanted to embrace him, tell him it was all going to be ok and that they had each other but another shriek pulled his attention. With one last look at Papyrus he turned tail and ran, not even trying to see if he could take a shortcut. But he was too late, by the time he arrived where the dogs patrolled there was nothing left but piles of dust. And their executioner was nowhere to be seen. 

He wanted to mourn and give them a proper burial so that their deaths weren’t in vain, but again Sans knew he didn’t have the time. He had no idea where it was, and he needed to get back to Papyrus in case it has slipped past him. He said a silent prayer for anyone left in the forest, hoping that they didn’t have to meet the same fate as he scanned the area for a time rip. Sans wasn’t sure how he missed them before but they were everywhere now, as if the fabric of the universe was crumbling before him. Stepping through made him nervous but thankfully he appeared, upright this time, right next to Papyrus. 

“Brother, How Did You- Wait, They’re Coming”

Sure enough, Sans looked to his right to see the thing slowly making it’s way towards them looking even more deranged than before. Sans felt a small tingle of justice when he realised the thing’s face had been scratched to hell, clearly his friends hadn’t gone down without a fight. But it was short lived as it approached the painted bridge, Sans realised he needed to try and talk to Papyrus while he had the chance. 

“pap listen to me, i’m so sorry for keeping things from you, but when we’re done here- you need to get out of town” Sans spoke barely above a whisper, while keeping the shambling form in his vision at all times “take everyone you find and go straight to undyne, she’ll know what to do.”

‘Ok...Ok! I’ll Make Something Up About Not Using The Puzzle- They Wouldn’t Care Anyway” Papyrus was shaking at this point but he was still trying “I Can Do This...But Sans-” 

“what is it?” Sans winced as he cut his brother off- the thing was getting closer and they needed to stop talking. 

“Promise Me You’ll Be Careful”

He didn’t have time to answer before Papyrus started to address the human. His brother was obviously rattled by everything but he still managed to keep them talking. Sans joined in as best he could but his mind was split in so many directions that his responses seemed generic. Papyrus went on and on, talking about ‘the gauntlet of deadly terror’. It was only for show, but Papyrus still drew out the pretence and threatened to activate it. But then he changed, Papyrus started agreeing with Sans and saying he was right about things for once. This...wasn’t like anything they usually played out for the human and Sans eventually understood it wasn’t just his brother stalling. He was trying to hint at going along with his plan. They exchanged a look and then Papyrus went on to talk about how the ‘human’ wouldn’t like it puzzle any way, that the trap would be better suited for someone like Undyne. Sans had to hand it to his brother; he could tell Papyrus was keeping the captain in mind, but also he was using her as a threat of what was to come if the thing didn’t stop.

And the longer he kept them talking, the more time they bought the rest of snowdin.

Papyrus did leave eventually, keeping up the act until he was just out of sight. Sans heard the moment his brother started running, just like they planned, and he felt a weird mix of pride and fear with them being separated again. But with Papyrus heading for Waterfall, at least Sans would be in between him and the danger. The thing had slowly been making its way closer, and a rip had started to open up around him. Sans knew he should have jumped through immediately but he he couldn’t help but issue one last warning before he stepped through. As he started to disappear, he could have sworn he saw the thing’s eyes widen. 

Sans re-appeared just outside of Grillby’s, and a quick scan of the area showed the town was even more deserted than before. This was great, all he needed to do was catch up to Papyrus and-

The light was still on at Grillby’s.

Cursing under his breath Sans shoved the door open to the bar as fast as he could, ready to beg with the bartender to heed his warnings. He knew that Grillby loved his establishment, but he didn’t need to go down like a captain with his ship for crying out loud! But when the door swung open he soon realised that Grillby wasn’t alone. Grillby stood from where he was lent over a booth, an apologetic look on his usually stoic face. 

“...i can’t leave them, Sans.” 

It was so rare to hear his friend speak, and to hear such a smooth tone sound so sombre was jarring even after everything he had witnessed. Sans looked behind his friend to find out who he was referring to, but nothing could have prepared him for what his saw. The bunny monster sat hunched over in the booth was someone who always made the bar seem so lively, and they always had time for Sans no matter what. It hurt his soul when their watery eyes raised up to meet his gaze; he’d never seen them look so hopeless. 

“They’re all gone Sansy-” she started hiccuping through her tears, completely losing herself to hysteria “-The dogs, they were such good dogs- and now- now- what’s the point!”

They let out another wail but this time Grillby had the sense to go over and clasp a firm hand over her mouth. Whatever silent plea he issued when they made eye contact seemed to work as she nodded slowly and tried to get a grip on their tears. Sans soon found himself with two pairs of eye looking at him, and he was about to grab them to leave when a scream startled them all into complete silence.

That thing was in the town, hurting someone, and there was no way they could make it in time. 

Sans was frozen for a second, he could still see the rips but he had never taken anyone but himself through them- let alone two other monsters. It was too risky, but he couldn’t just leave them here to die! Before he had chance to think Grillby had grabbed his arm and was pulling both him and Bun towards the back of the bar. As they turned the corner Sans saw something moving through the bar’s tinted windows and realised Grillby had probably saved all of their lives with his quick thinking. Bun was still sobbing softly but completely stopped when they all ducked down into the small space behind the bar just as the door swung open.

Immediately the air felt different- Sans had been dealing with the thing all day but it was only now that he could _feel_ it’s murderous intent. It was almost like it had been toying with him and Papyrus, hiding its true intentions so it could get close to them. He knew the thing was evil already, but this was a new level of cruel. He guessed his latest stunt had tipped them over the edge, and now it didn’t even bother hiding what it’s plans were. As he and his friends sat huddled together behind the bar he could hear them moving around slowly. He could do little more than to hope it wouldn’t find them. Sans knew he could put up a good fight, but without the magic of the judgement hall he was nowhere near as strong. And what they were dealing with was something else, it’s killer intent could wipe any of them out in one blow. 

The shuffling sound of it moving around came closer to the bar, and Sans willed his breathing to stop as held onto his two friends. Bun was thankfully frozen in fear, it’s tears all but forgotten, but Grillby was having a harder time keeping himself completely calm. Usually when the bartender was angry or startled his flames would flicker erratically- but that would give them away- Sans could see with his shaking hands and steamed up glasses how hard his friend was trying to keep that under control. 

Eventually the noises faded away, and the sound of the door opening and shutting made them all breathe a sigh of relief. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but the immediate danger had faded. Sans pulled out his phone- shooting a message to Papyrus asking for an update- before bringing his attention back to his friends. Grillby had calmed down somewhat even though his flames were still all over the place, and Bun had been snapped out of her earlier hysteria and was quietly sniffling against his shoulder. 

He wanted to stay with them or get them to somewhere safe but Sans couldn’t help his creeping panic. Papyrus hadn’t texted him back. For anyone else this would be normal, but the only time Papyrus didn’t answer his phone was when he was in the shower. Granted he was probably caught up with helping Undyne… but Sans couldn’t shake the feeling of dread. He needed to know his brother was safe. 

“stay hidden, we can’t lose anybody else” Sans whispered as he stood up, feeling awful about leaving them as he scrambled to get his words out “i-i need to go, i’m sorry but-”

“...Papyrus.”

Sans laughed nervously, Grillby was spot on as usual. He got up to leave, checking his phone again just in case but there was still nothing. Sans would have rang, but if Papyrus was in hiding he could end up giving his position away. There was no way he would be able to live with himself if did something so stupid. No, he was going to find Papyrus himself. 

Wind was blowing through the deserted town as Sans made his way outside. Unlike earlier he wasn’t able to see any time rips to jump through, which was particularly unsettling considering how frequent that had been appearing all day. He didn’t have time to dwell on it though, deciding to start making his way towards waterfall on foot until one appeared. He stuck mainly to the side of buildings or trees- he didn’t want to risk being caught off guard even if it slowed him down. By the time he reached his house it was getting harder to see as the wind was blowing the snow up all around him. Pushing forward was his only option though, he needed to know Papyrus was safe so they could- 

“....I...I Promise!

_no...._

Sans ran towards the source of the voice. It had come from close by, so close in Sans could feel his soul thumping hard in his chest. If Papyrus was here and not in Waterfall then he was probably still trying to find people to save. But everyone was gone. Sans had the horrible idea that his brother had come back for him as he walked further into the storm. His brother wouldn’t do that, he said he was going to find Undyne there was no way he’d come back alone and risk-

The snow cleared enough ahead for Sans to notice the bright red scarf curled up on the floor in front of him…

And the pile of dust that accompanied it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter:  
> multiple Major character death (referenced)grief, heavy angst, referenced violence.
> 
> sorry it took me a little longer for this update, writing this heavy subject matter really takes it out of me- i'm hoping to get out one more update before the holidays though <3


	4. Out of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me a little while, but this next part was a little too heavy to work on over the holiday period. MCD in this chapter too as well as dealing with grief and self-deprecating thoughts on a similar line as the last update. Please be safe.

Sans was frozen.

To him the world felt like it was simultaneously in slow motion and moving too fast. He’d never felt pain like this before, but his body's response was to almost completely shut down. He kept thinking about how it couldn't be true, that there was some other explanation. There was no way it could be Papyrus's dust that was being blown away by the storm. In a moment of panic Sans started clawing at the pile still on top of his scarf only to make the situation worse as more of the dust got swept up in the air currents. Then it hit him. It was the similarities between this moment and everything that lead up that finally broke him. 

His meddling was the reason everything had gone wrong.

He was the reason his brother was dead.

The tears didn’t come straight away, which only made him feel worse. Sans was convinced if he’d done things differently, if he’d done _more_ , then his brother would still be here. He knew he had become lazy, good for nothing and apathetic… but surely that didn’t mean Papyrus had to die because of his failings? The tears came then, not out of grief but out of shame. But it was like a floodgate. Sans was spiralling fast as it all became too much, falling to his knees as he screamed. He pulled Papyrus’s scarf into his chest, as if holding it close would feel like Papyrus was still in it, and sobbed hard. 

It felt like hours for the snow storm to start dying down, but in reality it was probably no more than a handful of minutes. Without the storm to drown him out there was nothing but the echoing of his sobs to keep him company. Sans realised then how alone he really was. And how exposed.He had no idea if that thing was still around, if it had just left like Papyrus was nothing or if it was watching him fall apart. Either way he needed to get out of there, it wasn’t safe. He thought about heading off to waterfall to make sure the alarm was raised and that the rest of the underground knew what horrors were on their doorstep. 

But honestly- he no longer saw the point- not with Papyrus gone. 

Why should he care? What help would a good for nothing like him be to anyone right now? Sans knew now he was more likely to hinder rather than help. If everything was just going to reset anyway, he would be more use to everyone if he just locked himself away and waited for the whole mess to be over. Sans just knew he was going to make things worse, he’d end up fucking it up no matter what he did. It would be better for everyone if he just gave up. 

But... Papyrus wouldn't want that.

If Papyrus was in his position, he wouldn't be wallowing in his sadness. He’d be _doing_ something, anything he could. Papyrus always put everyone first, and if the tables were turned he’d be trying to save everyone he could. No matter how hurt he was. Sans pushed himself up onto legs that threatened to collapse as he tried to gain his bearings. Since Papyrus wasn't here-since he really was _gone_ \- Sans was going to have to take his place. He needed to put all of his own shit aside and try and fill his brother’s shoes. He was the only one who had any real knowledge of the creature left alive, if he could use his abilities with that knowledge he could make a difference. He could save them! He needed to do this, it's what Papyrus would have wanted. 

With the scarf still in his hand Sans started to head towards Waterfall. Since that imposter had already decimated Snowdin it seemed like the next logical destination for it to go. It was a place that would still have potential victims for it to kill. Sans shook his head as he started to move a little faster. No good would come from him dwelling on the inevitable; he was certain that more monsters were going to share the same fate as his brother. But Papyrus would have gotten the word out, he would have warned as many monsters as he could. Papyrus would have told Undyne. Sans wasn’t on the best of terms with the captain of the guard, but there was no doubt in his mind that she would do anything to protect every innocent soul she could. He just had to hope she didn’t let her usual drive to obtain human souls to cloud her judgement. Sans couldn’t shake that niggling feeling though, he was afraid Undyne wouldn’t see just how much of a threat that thing really was...

The twilight of waterfall might have provided more cover, but Sans still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched out of his bones. He hoped it was from the cameras; Sans decided that shooting Alphys a text was a good plan. Calling still wasn’t an option, not with so many shadows to watch, but if he could establish a line of contact then maybe he wouldn’t feel so alone. Still he had to be quick. 

_are you seeing this? please tell me you’ve been cooking up something in the lab alph, i’m gonna try get to there as soon as i can _

Even as he was sending the text Sans knew he sounded cold. His brother was dead, and he didn’t even acknowledge Undyne. But this ‘thing’ was something else. In his days at the labs he’d read extensively about how a monster’s disposition affected the war greatly. If a human had a killer intent then it didn’t matter how strong _or how much they tried to reason with them like pa-_. Nothing a monster did would ever rival a human intent to go for the kill. The only reason they had managed to gather the other human souls were because they were either unwilling to fight or they had been killed unexpectedly. Sans should have known that Papyrus never stood a chance against this fucking imposter, it’s intent to kill was stronger than anything Sans ever thought possible. 

As much as he hated to even think about it, this thing was most likely going to take out Undyne in one blow. He needed to plan further ahead. If Alphys had defenses in hotland, preferably mechanical, then at the very least it would buy them time. But where would they go? Sans had thought evacuation to waterfall would have been enough- but it didn’t occur to him how short sighted that plan really was. As he skirted along past the reeds Sans felt his soul grow cold when he came across the first puzzle room in waterfall. It was already solved. 

This made no sense! Not only had the thing shown no interest in solving anything Papyrus threw their way, Sans was pretty sure that he should have caught up with them by now. There was no way they could have solved everything so quickly- considering the lack of cohesive thought the thing had past it’s slow shamble and killing anything in its way. There was no way this was possible… unless someone was _helping_ it. More cold drained into his soul as Sans realised he hadn’t been able to see any time rips since Pap had- since Snowdin. That feeling of being watched was back, and no matter how many times he looked over his shoulder he couldn’t catch sight of those yellow petals.

Sans wasn’t sure how, but he knew that fucking flower was involved. 

Though Sans liked to think of himself as being the only one who had memories from different timelines, that wasn’t completely true. But it had been so long since he and that smug little shit had crossed paths, Sans had spent time trying to block out the flower from his mind. It wasn’t because he wanted to live in denial though, it was simply because he hadn’t shown up since the beginning. Papyrus had been the one to introduce them a few timelines, and at first the flower had seemed friendly, but then he had picked up on how Sans’s shock over a talking flower became less genuine each time they met. It didn’t take them long to figure out they were playing the same game- but then just as quickly as he appeared he stopped turning up. Like the flower was going out of its way to avoid _him_. 

But just like that imposter wasn’t a human, that asshole wasn’t just a flower. Sans knew there was more to them both, but the idea that they were working together felt even more disturbing. The shred of control Sans thought he had in the universe felt like it was quickly slipping out of his hands. Without realising he had almost slowed to a stop, the soft glow of the wishing room only making it even harder to see through the tears. He needed to snap out of it. There were so many things working against him right now he didn’t need an existential crisis on top of it! Sans gripped Papyrus’s scarf closer as he tried to calm down, he desperately needed his brother’s strength right now. He imagined the taller skeleton pulling him in close as he soothed his much larger hand over Sans’s spine. The thought making him shiver before he started to feel sick to his core. No matter how much he needed the comfort, he shouldn’t have been thinking about an imaginary lover’s touch to soothe him. Not now the real Papyrus was gone. 

A small buzz reminded Sans that he’d forgotten to turn his phone on silent, and the text was felt like another dager right through his soul. 

_I’ve seen everything. I’m so sorry. I’m trying to locate Undyne now but my cameras are glitching out. Hotland’s defences are getting on-line. Sans, get out of there_

Seeing Alphys’s condolences made Sans lose his progress in calming down as small droplets of magic fell onto the screen. It didn’t help that his phone background was another reminder, the Papyrus staring back at him with huge grin cut deep. But didn’t have time to stop. He had a plan now, contact with his friend had given his feet a direction to head towards. 

He could do this, he had to save them, he didn’t have any other choice. 

The further he got into waterfall, the quieter it became. Sans wasn’t sure if this was a sign that everyone had already left, or that they didn’t have the chance. He didn’t let his eyes stay on any one spot for too long, terrified he’d start seeing piles of dust in the darkness. The few monsters he did see were already on their way out, or were peering at him while they hid. He had only caught glimpses, and he just had to hope that the thing wasn’t as observant as he was. Sans had gotten so used to his own heavy breathing being the only thing keeping him company that he had almost jumped out of his bones when he was grabbed and pulled into a nearby cave. Magic had begun to crackle in the air around him on reflex, but thankfully that had been enough to illuminate a familiar face.

“Calm down kid, it’s just me!” Gerson said , not even batting an eye over how quickly Sans had almost attacked him. The reaction was almost comforting, and for a moment Sans was happy to be berated for his foolishness by the old veteran. 

“You shouldn’t be walking around in the open like that, not with a human about! You know better” Gerson continued talking, but his tone had become a little unsteady when it settled on Sans’s face “But Undyne’s just been by, don’t you worry! She’s gonna stop this human before they- hey kid- this aint like ya- something’s not right is it?”

Sans should have known the respite would have been short lived, he briefly wondered how awful he must have looked for the old turtle to take any notice. He thought about shaking it off, but Gerson was known to be persistent. Sans was too tired to lie, and the monster in front of him was more than capable of handling the truth. 

“no, nothing’s right! that thing, it looks human but it isn’t! my brother he-”Sans cut himself off with a shake of his head, trying to engage the part of his mind that wasn’t falling apart “we need to get everyone outta here, or at least hide them or- or they’ll end up just like pap!”

Sans sounded hysterical, so he wasn’t surprised when a cold hand came to cover his mouth. Gerson spent a few moments listening, using his other hand to hold Sans’s arm firmly and calm his shaking. Sans gripped the scarf again hard, it was the only thing that seemed to calm him down any more. Only when Gerson was sure that they were completely alone did he change tactic, giving Sans a brief but heartfelt embrace before grasping his shoulders to get his full attention. 

“You’re brother is the one who told Undyne kid. She’s evacuated everyone she could thanks to him. He hasn’t fallen in vain” Gerson’s voice was similar to when he told his war stories, like he was treating Papyrus with the same respect as one of monster kind’s fallen heroes. “You need to get out of here, i know you’ve got plans cooking in that mind of yours kid. I know you’re gonna keep trying no matter what kid! We all believe in you.” 

Sans’s face slipped into a sad smile. The feeling of pride over Papyrus was bitter-sweet, but he felt even more determined to keep going. Even if he didn’t believe in himself, other people did. Papyrus did. Sans was so caught up that it took him a moment to realise Gerson’s words. The old veteran wasn’t coming with him. As if reading his mind Gerson clapped him on the shoulder again, a knowing look on his twisted features. 

“Don’t worry about me kid, I survived the war!” The turtle’s expression turned serious as he dropped the bravado, leaning in close so Sans wouldn’t miss a word “I’ll stall ‘em, buy everyone all the time i can” 

Sans gave him a firm nod before turning and heading out of the cave. Liquid magic had never stopped flowing from his sockets but he wiped his face across his sleeve again so he could see. Sans pushed away the thought that he was essentially leaving someone to die, when he knew deep down it was the right thing to do. Gerson was more than capable of handling themselves against any opponent, and to dwell on the morality of the situation would only slow him down. Sans wasn’t going to let his sacrifice be for nothing. 

Though the lack of time rips was still unsettling, Sans knew he was close to the Riverperson’s dock. Although mass evacuation was happening, something inside him knew that the peculiar recluse would still be on his boat. As he made his way towards the boat, Sans was puzzled that the walk took a little longer than usual. It felt like he was approaching the boat but it wasn’t getting any closer. This was strange to say the least, but considering all he’d been through today he didn’t have the time or will to dwell on it.

The Riverperson was pulled up to the station with their hooded face turned towards Sans as he climbed into the boat. Sans wasn’t sure exactly what kind of monster they were, and nothing about their appearance gave anything away. It never was a question he’d thought to ask since they had been going up and down the undergrounds connecting canal for as long as he could remember. He didn’t know why the question popped into his head now, but as he issued the request for Hotland he guessed it was something to do with how paranoid he was. With the fabric of his world falling apart, he could hardly blame himself for being suspicious of everything. 

While Sans was antsy to get to Hotland, the familiarity of the boat ride managed to calm the frantic beat of his soul. The waters were a little rougher than usual, he had to grip Papyrus’s scarf tighter to stop it being blown away. Since his company was quiet he had time alone with his thoughts, something Sans wasn’t sure was a good thing at all. He thought about pulling out his notebook to look at his notes, but he knew it was pointless. 

He’d been looking at the passing water as a way to calm himself down, but it was only when he saw the same rock for the _third_ time did Sans realise that something was wrong. But they hadn’t changed direction, the boat just wasn’t getting there. It was like they kept jumping backwards, like they kept _resetting_ further back on the river. _no no no!_. This couldn’t be happening- Sans could feel panic rising in his chest as he realised time was being manipulated in smaller sections. This could be the reason why he couldn’t see any rips, someone or something currently had full control over the timelines leaving him helpless. Sans rocked in on himself, trying to calm himself, but he couldn’t even hear himself think.

The wind was howling. 

He knew it had to be the thing, the flower, or them both. It had to be. They were working together he was sure of it. Whatever they wanted though, it definitely wasn’t going to be good. Even though he was currently stuck in time, Sans knew he still had to try to stop them. While earlier he was wishing that the thing had never come to the underground, Sans realised now he couldn’t let them leave. Not like this. If they made it out it would be the end to both human and monster kind. Plus if this thing got loose, they may never come back. Which meant Papyrus could be gone forever. 

There was a sliver of hope; even though time might have been out of his control, there must be a reason why it kept jumping like this. Something wasn’t going the way that thing wanted, something was giving it so much trouble it kept having to get back. Sans felt his nerve returning- this ‘human’ may be determined to wipe out the monster race, but they weren’t going down without a fight. He was so overcome with emotion that he didn’t notice his personal space was being invaded until it was too late. He would have jumped in surprise, but with the way the Riverperson was looming over him he was completely frozen in fear. 

Their breath was raspy, unlike Sans had ever heard it as they leaned in close. Though Sans knew he should have been able to see into their hood this close, there wasn’t anything there. But he could feel their hot breath- he could hear the soft creaking of _something_ as they leaned even closer. Their voice sounded strained and barely audible, but it did nothing to stop the panic that was consuming Sans again. 

“Beware-”

Time jumped again, he was still in the boat but they were further back on the river. The Riverperson was nowhere near him, they were facing away and stood on their usual perch . _what the fuck just happened?_. Sans was about to ask when in a flash of light all of the rips were suddenly visible to him again. He jumped straight through the one that had formed to his left without a second thought. He didn’t have the time to dwell on it, nor did he want to think on what had happened anymore than he had too. Everything today had felt wrong, but that was something else…

Sans focused his mind on Alphys as he travelled through the darkness, almost crying in relife when he materialized right behind the lizard monster. But she didn’t notice him, didn’t even turn away from where she was staring at the multiple monitors on the wall. Sans had known it was a possibility, but there was something so haunting about seeing the way Alphys had zoomed in one lone energy spear. Sans guessed this was the only thing Undyne had left behind, just like Pap with his scarf. He extended a shaking hand to her shoulder to let her know he was here, but Alphys was unreachable. She started shaking herself then the sound of her sobs became deafening. He’d heard this cry twice today- once from the dogs and the other time from his own mouth. It was the sound of someone's soul breaking, and when Sans finally got Alphys to look at him he could see the anguish written plain across her face. 

It was like looking into a mirror.

Sans could have kicked himself for not noticing it sooner. Here he was trying to plan what would happen after Undyne’s inevitable death with someone who was just as in love with her as he was with Papyrus. Alphys collapsed into him, screaming into his hoodie as she came to terms with losing the one she loved. But Alphys wasn’t in danger like the dogs had been, and she didn’t know that this could all be re-set like Sans did. This was it for her. Alphys had just watched someone she loved die whilst being powerless to stop it happening. Hearing the way she was sobbing and babbling it was clear that she also blamed herself. The similarities were painful, it felt like he was re-opening a barley healed wound. 

“Sans I’m so-sorry I should have- I didn’t think they’d get past Undyne she’s- she’s” Alphys cut herself of with a scream, her tiny claws piercing the skin of her hands as they balled into fists. “I don’t know what to do! Hotland’s systems are still down. I’ve broadcasted the word to head for the capital but- but i told them she wouldn’t loose because i didn’t- oh my god!”

Another sob shook her small frame and Sans couldn’t help but think about when she had first started working at the labs and would have a meltdown over the slightest little thing. He had helped her then, even when no one else was able to see her brilliance past her nervous demeanor. And he was going to help her now. 

“alphys listen to me” Sans’s hands were still shaking as he started to pull on her arm, knowing that time wasn’t a luxury they could afford right now. “we’ve gotta leave. now. but you’ve gotta have something- anything that will buy us some time?”

She regarded him with a blank face for a moment before her expression shifted to one he recognised. She had thought of something, and Sans felt that sliver of hope in his soul start to grow. 

“There's one thing” Sans followed as her gaze darted to the corner of the room where the Mettaton was currently in his charging station. “He has another form i’ve been working on... but it’s not completely ready or tested-”

“-alph, we don’t really have a lot of options here”

“Ri-right. Let me just turn him on-” 

Alphys worked fast, but Sans still had to repress the urge to rush her by trying to focus on the hole in Papyrus’s scarf he was currently poking with his thumb. He knew she was dealing with the biggest shock of her life, but the scene still playing on the monitors wasn’t that far away. It was only a matter of time before that thing got out of waterfall, and the lab was their first line of defence. Mettaton did finally power on, but instead of the cheery voice he expected the robot was silent and awaiting instruction. 

Sans had never seen the usually flamboyant robot so passive, it felt like he was witnessing a private moment that probably happened every day. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt when he realised how much Papyrus would have loved to have been there too. Alphys had been sniffling into her sleeve while she waited, but as she started to speak Sans could tell her mindset had changed.

“Human attack protocol a-activate” Her voice was still a little shaky but her intent was clear- she understood what she had to do to avenge their deaths. 

“That serious doctor?My my...” Mettaton’s tone was still over the top, but even Sans could tell he wasn’t taking her instructions lightly.

“Yes, monsters have fallen already. A human is headed this way- try and stall them but if all else fails” Alphys wiped the tears that had formed on her face again as she struggled with the next part. “Y-you have my permission to kill on site”

“Understood”

Mettaton didn’t take a beat to respond, but as Sans was taken by Alphys and pulled towards the exit he could hear the robot’s inner workings begin to to whir with activity. If they managed to survive this Sans knew he had to praise Alphys for creating such an impressive machine. Sans swallowed the excess magic in his mouth as he let himself be lead into a nearby elevator. The fact that this could be it, that time wouldn’t reset, suddenly felt like the more probable outcome. 

An outcome that he would have given his right arm for before no longer felt like a comforting prospect. 

The elevator ride to the resort was over as soon as it started, but Sans couldn’t believe the change he’d seen in Alphys. When Papyrus had fallen he had been inconsolable, but she had completely shut that part of her mind down. While it was what they needed to continue, Sans felt the sting of his own shortcomings. If he had recovered quicker, if he hadn’t wandered around aimlessly than maybe he could have-

He didn’t have time to dwell on his thoughts as the elevator opened to show the resort in chaos. Monsters were scrambling over each other to escape and the elevator to the capital looked jam packed as it’s doors struggled to close. They both set to work in calming the crowd and before long both he and Alphys were leading all the monsters they could into the core. They stuck together, but Sans saw Alphys break off a few times to give instructions to members of the guard that were stuck around. Sans’s soul felt heavy over not having the the time to warn them that they hardly stood a chance, but with so many people relying on him to save them he knew it was necessary.

As soon as they reached the edge of the capital Alphys started giving instructions on how to get into the tunnels beneath new home. Some monsters offered to lead the way and others offered to run to tell the king, all of which Alphys handled with delegation skills Sans could only dream of possessing. It was only when they were alone again did she start to fall apart. It was such a strong flip that Sans felt compelled to rush to her side as she closed the final door of the core. He tried to comfort her, to remind her that her machines and defenses were enough to stop anything. But it became clear pretty quickly that there was something she wasn’t telling him. 

“-That’s not it Sans. Mettaton he’s-” She looked at him with an expression completely full of fear, grasping at his hoodie just to keep herself grounded. “He’s not all machine, he’s a ghost that went corporeal. He follows our rules- he- he won’t last” 

Sans should have known this was a possibility, but he’d been so _so_ sure that they would have been able to end it here. He had hoped that the thing would have found the defences or Mettaton so impassable no matter what they tried that they would finally give up and put and end to it all. How could he have been so stupid? There was no point in going over his shortcomings again though, Sans tried to steal his nerves as he clutched the scarf towards him again. It had become like an extension of his hand, he kept forgetting he was holding it with everything else that was happening, but he needed it now more than ever. He needed his head clear for what he needed to do next. He had hoped it wouldn’t have come to this, but so many other monsters had sacrificed themselves to keep everyone else alive. Sans wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least try. 

“get out of here- get to the king if you can- this thing...it only seems to be going after people in their way- you gotta hide em alph” Sans took a breath to steady himself, but his soul was already pounding relentlessly in his rib-cage “if it gets past mettaton and heads to the capital then...then- i’ll have to stop them”

“Y-you can’t!” Alphys shook her head and tried to get him to come with her, but he wouldn’t budge. His mind was made up. 

“Asgore has told me about what you c-can do- but it’s too dangerous with your health- you could-” 

“no, this has gone on long enough” Sans let his voice rise, no longer caring about hiding anymore. He knew he being was reckless but he just wanted this to end. “i know i’m not the best person for the job but everyone's gone! the guard, the people in waterfall, the whole fucking canine unit, undyne and-and pap...”

“...i’ve gotta try”


	5. Last Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been such a long time between updates!  
> I've added the tag of graphic violence; for me it's not over the top violence but I know people's comfort levels vary, please bear that in mind for this chapter.

Twilight trickled through the stained glass windows in the judgement hall, making the settling seem tranquil and picturesque. Sans tried to imagine another, happier time as he leant panting against one of the columns. It may have seemed pointless considering everything he was trying to think about was gone, but he needed as clear a mind as possible if he was going to stand any chance of success. Magic was already heavy in the air; remnants of monsters that had fallen as well as the energy from the hall. He could recall Asgore telling him how the role of the judge gained their powers, but he couldn’t help but feel he was way too under prepared for this. 

He wasn’t some noble saviour of monster kind, he was a desperate mess.

Any one of his fallen friends would have been better suited to the role. Undyne’s strength was unmatched in the underground, and the way she had kept fighting even while her body was falling apart just showed how determined she was to protect everyone. If she had the power of the judge behind her, then maybe she wouldn’t currently be nothing but dust. Papyrus may not have the same brute strength as she did, but he would have excelled in the role for different reasons. Papyrus’s sense of right and wrong greatly outweighed his own, Sans just knew that his brother would be able to deliver justice without his confidence ever wavering. Hell, Even Alphys, Mettaton, or just about anyone else would have been a better choice. But instead Sans was somehow the undergrounds last hope, charged to wait in the eerily quiet halls for the approaching nightmare. 

But as far as Sans knew, Asgore had only ever approached him about taking on the role of the judge when the position became available. When Sans had questioned him and mentioned the others, Asgore had been quick to explain why it wasn’t their calling. Undyne was to hot headed, Papyrus saw the best in people even to his own detriment. The role of the judge called for someone analytical and someone who thought things through. Sans knew his innate magical ability also played a part in the king’s choice, as soon as he had stepped into the judgement hall both of them had been in awe over his shift in powers. Asgore had given him a speech about how Sans needed to keep his powers concealed, and that monsters would only know about his role on if they needed to. Which explained why the royal scientist knew, and why she knew his chances of survival were slim. But when Asgore’s mind was made up it was like he refused to see what a disappointment the skeleton really was. 

But there was one thing that the king had never seemed to consider. His health. Sadly the power’s of the judge could never change the fact that one hit from anything was going to bring him down instantly. Sans had never really paid much mind to his handicap; it was just another thing that he failed at in his eyes. It had never really mattered, until now. Sans could feel his breathing rate increasing even though he had long since calmed down from his earlier sprint. His magic attacks, the hall’s powers, and his fury meant nothing if he let that fucking thing land a single blow on him. How could monster kind’s last hope be someone who would crumble in an instant. Sans had given up caring about his own life at this point, but he could feel his soul threatening to break when he thought about how disappointed everyone would be when he screwed this up. 

Sans was on the verge of bolting; running away to hide like a coward. He couldn’t see how him staying here was going to make a difference. His death would only add to that thing’s body count, inadvertently making them stronger. But then he remembered how he wouldn’t be able to ever face Papyrus again, either in the afterlife or in another time line, if he just gave up. _so what if he failed?_ If Sans could buy everyone else more time to hide, even if his impact only saved one other monster, it was worth it. And that was just the worst case scenario, if Sans was smart and pulled out all the stops… maybe he could show that thing the real meaning of justice. 

As if sensing his shift in attitude, the magic in the hall became stronger. Sans could feel it flowing into him. His bones were buzzing with the extra energy, and the blasters he usually struggled to form were flickering into existence. Sans tried to keep them under control, not wanting them to fully manifest until his opponent was here. If he could time this right and catch them off guard, the element of surprise would work in his favour. Part of him knew that it was a dirty trick, but the rest of his mind was working in overdrive to come up with different ways to execute his revenge. Or rather _their_ revenge. Now that magic was flowing into him more freely he could feel the collective conscious of the monsters that had fallen; they were rooting for him, lending him their magic, helping him think clearly. It was comforting to imagine that his friends were there with him, that Papyrus would be proud. 

The imposter took longer to appear than Sans had expected, he wasn’t sure what kept them but he wasn’t complaining. With his senses heightened he could actually feel them getting closer before they entered the hall, giving him time to hide behind the pillar he was lent against. Sans wasn’t sure why he thought to hide, but as he waited he rationalised that anything he could do to throw them off would work to his advantage. When their paths had crossed before, Sans had been far too casual, trying to stall them with terrible jokes. If he could keep up that act for a little longer, then the reveal would surely throw even the coldest of killers off. He just had to hope that they couldn’t sense how fucking terrified he really was. 

Sans lent against the pillar fully, trying to conceal himself as best he could. He heard footsteps slowly echoing through the long hall as the thing got closer to where he was hiding. It was approaching slowly, somewhere in between walking and dragging themselves across the floor with a distinct wet sound. Sans could feel his bones shaking from fear and the effort of concealing more magic than he was used to as he worked up the nerve to reveal himself. When he finally did walk into their line of sight it took all of his willpower to keep the default lazy grin on his face. The human husk that the imposter had been using hardly resembled a living being any more. It’s skin was torn, dripping in blood, caked in a thin layer of dust from head to toe. The small glitches in reality that Sans had noticed all the way back in Snowdin were much more prominent now. It was obvious now that the human’s body was merely being used as a puppet an entity that was determined to kill everything in its path. 

They looked horrific, terrifying, and yet somehow unbelievably familiar....

“you’ve been busy, huh?” Sans started talking, trying not to get lost in his thoughts while keeping his tone as light as possible.

He started spewing off whatever came to mind as the hall came alive with magic, pulsing into his body with a pressing urgency. If the thing noticed the changes around them, it didn’t show. It may have been standing in one spot, but their body no longer looked solid. Sans kept his voice steady even when he kept seeing flashes of something else, of red pupils and an unnatural smile, all the while fighting that feeling of déjà vu. There was a moment of clarity, it’s form solidifying, taking a step towards them with pure hatred in it’s eyes. Sans had to hide his fear behind nervous laughter. He just kept talking. Stalling. But he could only put the inevitable off for so long-

“if you take another step forward-” Sans issued the challenge, knowing exactly what their reaction would be. He just needed a little more time, to get them to think he was really trying to talk it around down. He had to lead it into the trap of thinking it still had the upper hand.“-you are **r e a l l y** not going to like what happens next.”

It did. Sans let some of his fear show as he kept talking, letting his voice get louder as sweat dripped down his skull. He knew he had their full attention, which was both equal parts reassuring and horrifying. They listened to him intently with that smile flicking in and out of existence. They didn’t sense the air shifting around the hall while they were listening to his speech. They didn’t even notice the first set of blasters materialising behind their head. Sans could feel the well of magic tingling through his fingertips just waiting to be called to action. 

_He could do this._

“-on days like these, kids like you-”

_He was ready._

“-should be burning in hell.”

For a second his vision went dark. Sans let the magic take over so when his eye lights snapped back they were burning with blue fire. The floor of the hall lit up with a flash as bone attacks sprung to the surface, hitting the thing with such force that they had to cling onto them to stay upright. But that was just what Sans wanted. It had taken him years to perfect summoning jagged bones, but considering his innate attack wasn’t high either it was a way for him to do lasting damage. It’s skin was sliced in so many places causing them to cry out before throwing their shambling form backwards. Right into where the blasters were waiting. 

The beam of pure magic was so strong that Sans almost lost control. He staggered his feet, bracing himself as he fired off attack after attack. The shock was over and the thing moved at incredible speeds to dodge the incoming barrage. Sans knew he couldn’t match their speed. But he could outsmart them. He predicted where they were going to land and sent another spike of bones shooting from all directions. They weren’t accurate or strong enough to kill- but every slam, gash, and splatter of blood felt like a victory. Sans was sure that he had managed to corner them, going in for the kill with a final blast when _somehow_ it managed to dodge the attack completely. They landed far too close for comfort- blood and sweat dripping down their face- with the knife they had been previously concealing glinting in the evening light. 

_shit._ Sans had got ahead of himself. Hitting them with everything he had left him vulnerable while his magic replenished. He had left himself open to a counter-attack.

He tried to joke it off but the thing stood shakily to its feet, it’s expression dripping with unrestrained rage. They lunged towards him with the knife and Sans feared the worst. But something incredible happened. All of the powers that had been blocked to him came pouring back and Sans felt his vision shifting. He could actually see their path of attack in a blur of motion, giving him an incredible advantage. Without thinking Sans moved out of the way at the last second, surprising them both. But he couldn’t let his joy over still being alive effect what happened next. Sans had to recover quickly, mask his own shock. He had to keep up the pretence that he was in control. He spun around, looking right into its eyes as he winked cockily. 

“what? you think i’m just gonna stand here and take it?” Sans could feel the smugness in his voice as he threw another bone attack in their direction, his grin only widening when they lunged toward him again.

This was his chance. Sans saw their path and shot out of the way easily, landing in front of the spot where he he’d summoned three fresh blasters. The hall went white. Sans heard the sound of their soul being shattered; it was so loud and poignant that had him clutching his own chest in sympathy. But that pain soon gave way to the sweet taste of victory. Sans felt tears of relief gathering in his sockets. He had done it! He’d actually managed to kill them! He-

Sans lent against the pillar fully, trying to conceal himself-

_wait what the fuck?!_

Sans had just been weeping for joy over his unexpected victory, so why had he been trying to hide himself? He heard the sound of slowly approaching footsteps, the distinct sound of something wet and- _no!_. He was back to waiting for them, right before the fight. That fucking disgusting _thing_ had reset. But he hadn’t Sans had never experienced anything like this before; any time they had reset in the past it had always been to the same point in time. He always went back to waking up in his bed, no matter what he had been doing before. 

_what the hell was going on?!_

Thankfully his mind caught up and started to rationalise the situation. Events of the day started slotting into place as he went over them with new information. The anomaly could not only reset everything back to the start but they were able to hop back to whenever they chose to when they died. This explained the incident on the boat, and Sans not being able to use any rips if they themselves were hoping through time. Undyne must have given them even more trouble than he had originally thought, she must have killed them over and over with the amount time kept skipping during their fight. This wasn’t fair. If they could just keep coming back as often as they liked, keep trying again and again until they succeed, how in the hell would _anyone_ be able to beat them?

As the footsteps got closer Sans snapped out of his thoughts, realising that there was nothing he could do about it. Sans had a choice; he could fall apart over the situation, or he could try and use it to his advantage. An idea popped into his head just as he walked into their line of sight. If they thought they could hop through time with no one being any the wiser, they were fucking _wrong_. 

“you look frustrated about something” Sans faced the thing head on, waiting for it’s attention to snap towards him. He greeted their look of disdain with a wink, intent on getting under it’s grotesque skin. “guess i’m pretty good at my job, huh?”

Sans saw it, that flicker of pure rage on their face. No matter how much it tried to hide it behind their menacing grin, it never went away. It should have known not to try and outdo him, not when Sans had perfected the art of hiding his feelings. The fight began again, and Sans was unbelievably grateful that his ability to predict their attacks hadn’t been a fluke. They lasted longer that time. But with the amount of blood they were losing from the wounds covering every inch of their body, it was only a matter of time before he managed to out manoeuvre them again. This time he watched as bone attacks from opposing sides of the room ripped what was left of their body in two, the echo of their soul breaking ringing clear in his mind. 

They reset again.

But this time he knew what was coming. 

They kept up this routine of fighting and resetting so many times that Sans started to lose count. The upper hand he had with the knowledge of how often he’d managed to kill them soon lost its effect. They both knew what was happening, and he knew that they weren’t going to give up. Sans was tired, exhausted actually. While the imposter seemed to regain all of their energy with each reset, Sans was not as lucky. He started to loose focus; the resolve he’d managed to build up was fading fast. He no longer had the upper hand; the shock had faded and each time they reset they would last just a little longer. They were learning his attacks across timelines. Sans didn’t know how much longer he could keep going. In desperation he tried to change it up, quickly switching from one attack to the other.

It worked...but his victory was short lived.

Sans was barely able to catch his breath before he heard footsteps approaching. Something was different. The sound was much faster, much more certain in their movements. Turning the corner and facing them just confirmed his suspicions. What stood before him wasn’t the same shambling mess Sans had been fighting. Their form was much more solid, their features shifting just slightly but making them look entirely different. Something in the back of his mind _knew_ who they were, but he just couldn’t pin it down. He wasn’t given the chance to dwell on it either. This form was faster to the point of being manic, slashing the air around him with their knife at every single opportunity. Their intent to kill was so strong now that Sans could practically taste his own demise. 

There had been some sort of familiarity before. Attack. Dodge. Wear them down. Kill them. Reset. Repeat. But they were so much more unpredictable like this. While it made their attacks harder to predict, he was thankfully still able to see their path and dodge accordingly. Their recklessness left them open to attack, but they didn’t even flinch when their skin was torn open. It felt like the mask had been lifted and Sans was finally seeing what he was up against. He was petrified, almost freezing in fear, but just had had to keep going. 

After two of his blasters caught them in a crossfire, there was a moment where he thought the smoke was going to clear to the soul of their soul breaking. But instead it seemed to knock the thing back to its former fuzzy state. Sans watched as it flicked between the maniac he’d been fighting and something else. Someone he was much more familiar with. He was seeing flashes of the human, the real one and not just the shell, looking like they were fighting to escape the things clutches. Sans took a step forward despite his better judgement. 

“listen. i know you didn't answer me before, but…” Sans took a step forward despite his better judgement. He knew it was stupid, that he should have just killed the thing, but he couldn’t pass up this opportunity. If he could get through to the human, then they might have a power to put and end to it all and reset properly. Sans stalled his attacks, watching them closely, seeing the way their body glitched and faded. Like they were being torn in two. Clutching to that sliver of hope he took another step forward, putting all of his hatred aside to try and get through to them. 

“c'mon, buddy. do you remember me?”

Their whole body started to shake violently as they let out an unnatural screech. The change happened fast. One moment Sans had been looking at the monstrosity, and the next the human was in front of him. They were trembling with the effort to stand, covered in oozing wounds and visibly shaken from their ordeal. When they finally lifted their head enough to look at Sans he knew it had worked; the human had somehow managed to break free from the thing’s control. 

They ran towards him with tears in their eyes. Sans exhaled in relief, opening their arms willingly without a second thought. But as the human got closer the glitches came back- their body became fuzzy- but they never stopped running. Sans should have known it had been too good to be true. But he knew what he had to do. Moments before the human reached his open arms he snapped his fingers, spearing them through the chest with as many bone attacks he could muster. 

Another scream echoed around his skull as the human’s flesh was cut into multiple times. Sans closed the gap between them, pulling their face into his hands as he searched for the part of them that was still human. The look of betray on their face was clear, and Sans had to fight back his own tears to get his words out. 

“if we’re really friends... you won’t come back.” 

Sans saw the look of understanding on their face for the briefest of moments before his vision started to blur and reality crumbled apart around him.


End file.
